The IIAS Flight Research Center (IIAS-FRC) has expertise in 1) reduced gravity flight research, 2) flight test engineering, and 3) aeronomy (upper atmospheric) research. Working with Integrated Spaceflight Services and the National Research Council of Canada, the IIAS-FRC has prepared and flown more than 100 experiments in reduced-gravity, parabolic flight with the NRC Falcon-20 aircraft and, more recently, Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship Two suborbital spacecraft. The IIAS-FRC also provides instrumentation for the flight qualities testing of aircraft used in IIAS’s Flight Test Engineering program and for imagery and remote sensing instrumentation used in IIAS’s ‘Project PoSSUM’ (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere), a research program designed to study observable in the upper atmosphere that are indicators of global climate change.
What is Flight Research?
What do we do?
Microgravity Research
IIAS partners with Integrated Spaceflight Services (ISS) to provide high-quality yet affordable microgravity flight services using Falcon-20 aircraft and, more recently, suborbital spacecraft. ISS specializes in the payload integration and certification process required to get an experiment ready for flight and has particular expertise in microgravity ergonomic studies and other studies involving human performance and human-in-the-loop testing. Since 2015, IIAS students have integrated and tested a variety of equipment now in service on the International Space Station, including bio-monitoring and printing technologies and have tested, evaluated, and validated space suit prototypes in microgravity environments.
Flight Test Engineering
IIAS provides comprehensive courses on flight test engineering methods using a variety of aircraft to educate the student on methods and techniques of evaluating the performance and stability and control characteristics of fixed-wing aircraft. Tests include pitot-static testing, level and turning flight performance, takeoff and landing theory and test methods, climb performance, range and endurance evaluation, and excess power flight testing. The IIAS-FRC also characterizes long-period and short-period oscillations in pitch and roll/yaw including static and dynamic longitudinal stability, lateral-directional stability and control, lateral control and roll performance, directional control, stall and spin characteristics. Twin-engine aircraft are used to determine the minimum-controllable airspeed in engine-out scenarios.
Aeronomy Research
Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere, 83 km (50 miles) and are observed slightly below the mesopause in the polar summertime. These clouds are of special interest, as they are sensitive to both global climate change and to solar/terrestrial influences. The first recorded sightings of noctilucent clouds were reported in 1885 and both satellite and ground-based observations over the past four decades have indicated that the presence of these clouds has been increasing in both frequency and brightness. Scientists now realize that these clouds are very sensitive indicators for what is going on in the atmosphere at higher altitudes as small changes in the atmospheric environment can lead to large changes in the properties of these clouds. Further, since these clouds form on condensation nuclei through cold temperatures and the presence of water vapor – and these properties of the mesosphere are tied to carbon dioxide and methane, the anthropogenic causes of climatic change may be directly related to the presence of noctilucent clouds.
IIAS Student Microgravity Experiments:
Microgravity is a unique environment where the effects of gravity are reduced or removed. This environment is created in freefall. In space, freefall is achieved by “falling around” the Earth in the International Space Station; on the Earth, freefall is achieved in special research aircraft that fly in parabola-like maneuvers. Anyone can experience freefall simply by jumping in the air: the moment your feet leave the ground, you are in freefall and experience exactly the same sensation as astronauts floating inside the space station! Microgravity is very important in the study of Space Science because the processes and phenomena normally hidden by dominant gravitational effects become more easily observable. An example of a physical science experiment in freefall is the study of how a liquid occupies a partially filled container: on the ground, a liquid tends to pool at the bottom of its container, but in microgravity the liquid can behave strangely and may occupy both ends of its container with a void in the middle, creating new challenges in the design of spacecraft liquid fuel tanks and life support systems. IIAS students have flown dozens of successful microgravity experiments. Here are some of the most recent:
IIAS Water on the Moon Experiment
Experiment to study the fluid dynamics of water in a lunar gravity environment. Observed to the Right: IIAS experimenter pours water in lunar gravity.
IIAS Fluid Configuration Experiment
Pure liquid water and water vapor in sealed borosilicate cylindrical containers are used to study effects of g-jitter (random vibrations) on the configurational phase stability of water in low gravity. Observed to the right: Pure water in low gravity when exposed to g-jitter from the aircraft (left) and when free floating (right).
IIAS Solid Body Rotation Experiment
The Intermediate Axis Theorem is investigated using a device that imparts known angular velocities to objects in near weightlessness. Observed to the right: Solid Body Rotation Experiment with egg object.
IIAS AR/VR in Weightlessness Experiment
Experiments to test out various head-mounted display units (HoloLens, Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, Google Glass) to test augmented and virtual reality scenarios in freefall. Observed to the right: Oculus Quest testing in near weightlessness.
IIAS Perception of Facial Features in Space Experiment
A doctored picture of a person is shown beside the unaltered picture and the flight participant attempts to identify differences between the two pictures when in near freefall. Can you spot the differences between the two pictures of Col. Chris Hadfield?
IIAS Satellite Deployment Experiment
Egyptian payload testing the deployment of satellite solar panels in near weightlessness.
PoSSUM 13 Oil and Water Emulsion Experiment
Mixing of water and oil in reduced gravity. Contributed from PoSSUM 13 student team from Mexico.
IIAS Biomonitoring Technologies Experiment
Smart garments, harnesses, and sensors are used to monitor suited and unsuited participants in support of human spaceflight. Technologies include Zephyr, Equivital, Muse, Hexoskin and Astroskin. Observed to the Right: Testing of the Muse brain sensing headband.
IIAS Scientific Ballooning Laboratory:
The IIAS-FRC oversees the Scientific Ballooning Laboratory (SBL), a short-duration balloon lab that designs, constructs, and operates balloon payloads for a variety of atmospheric research and terrestrial observations. Specifically, the SBL designs custom balloons for the twilight observations of noctilucent cloud structures that form in the upper mesosphere in the polar summertime.
Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere, 83 km (50 miles) and are observed slightly below the mesopause in the polar summertime. These clouds are of special interest, as they are sensitive to both global climate change and to solar/terrestrial influences. The first recorded sightings of noctilucent clouds were reported in 1885 and both satellite and ground-based observations over the past four decades have indicated that the presence of these clouds has been increasing in both frequency and brightness. Scientists now realize that these clouds are very sensitive indicators for what is going on in the atmosphere at higher altitudes as small changes in the atmospheric environment can lead to large changes in the properties of these clouds. Further, since these clouds form on condensation nuclei through cold temperatures and the presence of water vapor – and these properties of the mesosphere are tied to carbon dioxide and methane, the anthropogenic causes of climatic change may be directly related to the presence of noctilucent clouds.
The images obtained during the campaign will be used to analyze how waves generated at lower altitudes dissipate via instability and turbulence processes. These processes account for the deposition of significant energy and momentum transported by the waves from lower altitudes. They also play key roles in weather and climate throughout the atmosphere, but are poorly understood at present. Imaging of noctilucent clouds provides a unique window on these processes that is not available at any other altitude. Thus, this largely inaccessible region has the potential to educate us about important processes occurring throughout the atmosphere.
Airborne Observation of Noctilucent Cloud Structures:
Airborne Noctilucent Cloud Research
PoSSUM airborne noctilucent cloud campaigns have several objectives: 1) validate camera systems on noctilucent clouds structures, 2) characterize jitter and focal capability in varying flight environments, 3) obtain imagery data to assist preliminary design of image algorithms, 4) perform tomographic imagery synchronous with ground station(s), and 5) facilitate EPO efforts.
IIAS Royal Canadian Air Force Noctilucent Cloud Research
IIAS studied noctilucent clouds using a CT-155 ‘Hawk’, training aircraft, thanks to CAE, located at the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 15 Wing at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Operating from the Edmonton International Airport, a series of night flights were conducted along the 56th parallel at altitudes of up to 45,000 ft. From these altitudes, the IIAS team was able to image fine structures of noctilucent clouds that the team hopes will reveal more about the highly complex patterns of turbulence and instability in our upper atmosphere. The research was coordinated with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s PMC Turbo balloon, led by PoSSUM Chief Scientist Dr. Dave Fritts, which was the first dedicated mission to explore the small-scale dynamics of our mesosphere.
Directorship
Ken Trujillo, Center Director
Kenneth Trujillo is a Systems Engineer and Program Manager with over 25 years’ of experience in management of complex NASA, DoD, and commercial engineering projects. Mr. Trujillo’s NASA experience includes Space Shuttle and International Space Station astronaut training, mission design, and flight control. Mr. Trujillo’s major focus at NASA was with the training and operation of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) used during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) and with the Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) full pressure suit used during Shuttle ascent and re-entry. Mr. Trujillo developed pressure suit-related NASA astronaut training curriculum and procedures at Johnson Space Center, conducted Space Shuttle Extravehicular Activity (EVA) system and operations instruction consisting of classroom, vacuum chamber, neutral- buoyancy, and simulated micro-g training, and conducted ACES pressure suit training. Mr. Trujillo supported over 70 Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions from JSC Mission Control Center. Among other projects, Mr. Trujillo was also assigned as project engineer for system development, test, and certification of NASA’s X-38 lifting body.
After leaving NASA Mr. Trujillo worked as a Flight Test Engineer on the F-35 program at Edwards AFB, CA. As an aircraft lead Mr. Trujillo conducted over 100 sorties as Test Conductor/Test Director for mission system and flight science missions on all three F-35 aircraft variants. Mr. Trujillo developed the F-35 flight controller training curriculum to qualify FTE and IPT personnel to support F-35 flight test missions and provided vehicle systems classroom training, and control room training using high-fidelity, human-in-the-loop simulators leading to control room qualification for test operators.